An established legal search practice, now extending into California.
Smith Legal Search is one of Canada’s leading national legal recruitment firms, with more than two decades of experience advising law firms and legal departments on critical hires. My own practice spans private practice and in-house search, working with national and international law firms — including AmLaw firms — as well as sophisticated in-house legal teams.
With a home base in Southern California, I’m now extending that practice into the California market. I’m building the desk the same way I built my Canadian practice: through relationships, targeted search, strong market intelligence and an understanding of what actually makes a move work.
The market is new. The search experience behind it isn’t.
Built for law firms, legal departments and the lawyers they hire.
Looking for talent?
The objective is not to flood an inbox with CVs. It is to understand what you are actually trying to hire, map the market properly and go find the right people.
If your firm maintains an approved search-firm list, recruiter agreement or submission portal, I would welcome the opportunity to introduce Smith Legal Search and understand your process.
Introduce Your Firm →You do not need to be looking for a job to know me.
Some of the strongest relationships in my practice started years before a lawyer actually moved. I am happy to talk compensation, firms, partnership, market movement or career trajectory, including telling you when I think staying exactly where you are is the right move.
Want the full SLS overview?
A quick look at Smith Legal Search, the people behind the platform, how we run a search, and the legal talent we recruit across private practice and in-house.
A lawyer's career is not a transaction to be closed. It is a trajectory to be understood. The recruiters who earn a seat at that table read the market with precision and tell the truth even when it costs them the placement. That is the standard this desk is built on.
Search experience across the legal market.
SLS works across private practice and in-house legal search, from associate-level mandates through senior legal leadership. The common thread is targeted, relationship-led search rather than transactional candidate flow.
Private Practice
National, international, regional and boutique firms, including group moves, partner moves and lateral associate searches.
In-House
Legal Counsel, Corporate Counsel, General Counsel and Senior Vice President-level legal leadership searches.
Practice Areas
Corporate Commercial, Private and Public M&A and Securities, Capital Markets, Commercial Litigation, Civil Litigation, Real Estate, Financial Services, and more.
Market Intelligence
Compensation, candidate availability, firm movement and direct feedback from lawyers in market.
Four questions. No pitch attached.
I know how to run a search. What I want to keep sharpening is my read on the California lateral market from the lawyers actually living it. Leave an email only if you want a response.
Thank you. Your response came through.
If you left an email, I will be in touch. If not, no follow-up is coming.
If a conversation makes sense, I am easy to reach.
Whether you are responsible for recruiting at a law firm, building an in-house legal team, or simply thinking about your own career, I am happy to talk. No manufactured urgency and no assumption that a move needs to happen.
Southern California is now one of my two home markets, and my practice operates between California and Canada. I am available to meet in person throughout the Los Angeles market.
Trevin Sewell
Partner, Smith Legal SearchI recruit lawyers across private practice and in-house roles and have built my practice around candid market intelligence, long-term relationships and the belief that the right placement matters more than the fast one.
Recruitment is what I do. The person behind it matters too. If you want to understand how I think, why I work the way I do and the experiences that shaped my approach to people and recruitment, you can read the full story.